Deal will set limit on college credits

Plan sets cap to get degree

INDIANAPOLIS — A Senate committee heard testimony on a bill Wednesday that will allow the Indiana Commission for Higher Education to monitor the number of credit hours for new and existing college degree programs.

The bill would limit the number of credits a school can require to 60 for an associate degree and 120 for a bachelor's degree.

Rep. Rhonda Rhoads, R-Corydon, and Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, sponsor the bill, which is part of Gov. Mitch Daniels' agenda to tamp down college costs.

Daniels has argued some colleges have been boosting the numbers of credits that are required for majors, increasing costs and time to graduation. He wants the commission to have veto power over those increases.

Earlier this year, the bill languished on the House calendar for two weeks as officials from the state and the universities worked for an agreement on the legislation.

Rhoads said changes to reflect that deal will be made in the Senate.

The amendment, which she plans to offer last week, will require the Commission for Higher Education to approve some programs with more than 120 credits if the industry mandates that much training for students. Leising said a pharmacy degree could be one example.

"We're not trying to, in any way, reduce the number of hours for the programs we all know require more than 120 hours," Leising said.

Higher Education Commissioner Teresa Lubbers said the commission will approve additional credits if the university can defend why a degree should exceed the 60 or 120 credit hour limits.

"What we're trying to say is this should be standard unless there are justifiable reasons it should exceed that," she said.

Lubbers said the bill is "student friendly" and will be an important part of student success.

"If it takes them too long to finish, they're not likely to finish at all," she said.

Leising said it's no surprise a third of Hoosier students don't graduate within four years. She said it's because many programs take more than 120 credits to complete.

She said "credit creep" is a huge cost to students and parents because aid is only available to students for eight semesters.

"Hopefully this is going to give a lot of kids a greater opportunity to complete their education in four years," she said.

The bill passed the House last week 60-35. The Senate committee will consider amendments to the bill next week.